With the aim of providing educational opportunities to all the IITs, IIMs and central universities will soon offer free online courses through a web platform that will be launched by the Ministry of Human Resource Development on September 25, the birth anniversary Deen Dayal Upadhyay Pandit.
In the first phase, seven institutes - Three IIT Bombay, Guwahati and Chennai and four major universities (Delhi, Punjab, Manipur and Banaras Hindu University) - offer courses in engineering, social sciences, agriculture, energy, management and basic sciences. Later, more colleges receive on the online platform, which would become a System Massive Open Online Course fledged (MOOCs) for India.
HRD Minister Smriti Irani Hindustan Times said the program, called Swayam (study of networks of active learning for young minds aspiring), is designed to allow any Indian, regardless of origin or location, to access the best education. The MOOCs course will be free of charge to students, but if a student requires a verified certificate, will be charged a small fee.
The ministry will also launch a series of educational reforms include the establishment of a national academic depository for central scanning awards, degrees and mark sheets, national e-library program to improve the quality of education teachers superior and 'know your university websites to help students choose the right courses and the best institutions.
Irani said that although the government is open to private participation in education, the reason should not be of benefit. "I've had talks with President of Wipro, Azim Premji and chairman of Tata Group Cyrus Mistry about and believe in what Premji said that India must strive to build brands of their public educational institutions," she said.
Concerned about the dropout rate of 50% in the eighth grade of tribal girls, Irani said recently the president CBSE to identify 1,400 underprivileged children who had scored above 85% in class X and ensure help so that they can continue their studies.
The 'know your university portal is designed to provide information to prospective students in nearly 10,500 schools programs that perform 14,000 and 17,000 levels of technical education.
